The BGN News Archive

February 26, 2018

Muck and the Mires
Photo:Blowfish

The Dirty Truckers have released a “best of” album
(with 22 cuts!) on Rum Bar records; they did a show at O’Briens
to celebrate that. Right now it seems to be Rum Bar’s world and
they let us live in it. They've been a horn of plenty these last two months.
Label leader Lou Mansdorf has a business paradigm that is working
gangbusters. He picks a band, they give him recorded material and he packages
and publicizes it. Seems simple.

Lou Mansdorf pumping up the crowd
Photo:Blowfish

Another thing seemed obvious being at the O’Brien’s Friday
show: Rum Bar is the center of a sub scene. Rum Bar
has fostered a network of people through their strong identification
with their bands and the shows they've put on in support of them. The
large turnout at Justine and the Unclean’s show
at Once a while back was a high profile example of the Rum Bar fan base.
There is a group of people now as identifiable as the Abbey scene people
who have remained close knit, years after the clubs closing. It’s
nice to see.

The Dirty Truckers
Photo:Blowfish

The Dirty Truckers are illustrative of how the Rum Bar stable
of bands work. If you follow the musician’s family trees in the group
you get to Tom Baker and the Snakes, Justine and the Unclean, Gymnasium, Watts,
Worshipper and then The Neighborhoods and more!

The Dirty Truckers have one of our favorite vocalists, Tom
Baker. He writes some of the songs also. On Friday his voice
was on full display. He had a gritty tone married with a yearning romanticism.
Time and time again he would hit a chorus with a repeated phase and milk it
for all it was worth.

John Brookhouse who got a lot of attention in Worshipper
also plays in Tom Baker and the Snakes. There he plays with
Charles Hanson, in The Dirty Truckers you
get to hear him alone, and that gives you an even clearer idea of his prowess.
He has a muscular tone and can play with a hard rock edge or he can get sweet.
On “Boston Wrangler”, the new single released by Rum Bar, he uses
a slide. When they played it on Friday the slide work mirrored Baker’s
vocal work in tone. You could hear clearer where he used the slide to slowly
ascend five steps and then decend the same five steps. Once you locked into
that you listened for it and it felt like it picked you up and let you down
easy.

Tom Baker
Photo:Blowfish

Drummer John Lynch is in a few groups including the Neighborhoods
but for our money his work is best represented in the Truckers. He plays strong with
not much adornment and it fits the Truckers music to a T.

Another highlight was the Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait” (second video above)
where they speed it up a notch and hit the main riff harder. The Truckers are
always compared to the Rolling Stones but their influences go way beyond that
as the Replacements cover suggests. Here’s
their Bandcamp page where you can hear some of the songs we mention.

The next day, on Saturday, it was to the Midway with even more Rum Bar action.
We told you, it’s their world! We will gladly submit to Jay Allen
and Muck and the Mires.

Jay Allen and the Archcriminals
Photo:Blowfish

Jay Allen and the Archcriminals have a new album coming out
shortly. Judging from what we heard Saturday the songs are in a more
serious vein than in the past. Jay has digested a lot of punk and when
he plays you can hear that. That was the case at the Midway where the
whole set was stamped with it’s punk credentials. The band started
with “The First Time” by the Boys. The group could play
a whole set of these choice punk covers but that maybe would be too
easy and Jay’s material captures the same spirit anyway. “Chopped
Liver”, “Bustin' My Balls”, “Twist My Nuts”
were all played. The audience gave strong ovations. It felt good to
be in a crowd that ‘got it’. Justine Covault sat
in on one song. She played in Quest for Tuna with Jay
in the 1980’s.

He also played the new material that was serious and very stong. One song was called "Tiny Daggers" and that's in the first video below.

We are looking forward to hearing all the new material on Jay's next release.

Muck and the Mires
Photo:Blowfish

You know in Raiders of the Lost Ark when that
boulder is bearing down on Indiana Jones? That’s what it’s like
when Muck and the Mires start playing – you better get
off your ass and move or you are going to be rolled over by the rock (n’
roll). We seemed not to see them set up (they do it fast), we just heard the
band hitting the first note at full volume and speed, and they were off.

We never did catch our breath, as they never stopped. You think we
would be used to this by now? Every time we catch Muck and the
Mires we think that the current show was the best ever. This
time several people thought the same of this set. We don’t know,
they all are at this level!! These guys were crazy good. Linda
and Evan were just grinning the whole time as was the
whole audience. You want to hear the power of music? Get to a Muck and
the Mires gig. If you don’t come out feeling happy, optimistic
and one with the world there’s no hope for you. After a whole
set of the world's catchiest songs “Saturday Let Me Down Again”
has stuck in our heads – it’s there now. What sort of powerful
ear worm mojo does that song have?

And another reason to be cheerful, part two, Adam Sherman
of the Billy Connor’s Project said they were in the studio
(Woolly Mammoth) and recorded a few songs. One being
“Knock Down Day” which we are nuts about. And Adam said they nailed
it too. Looking forward to that!!

March 3 (Saturday) Silver Screams,
Duck & Cover, Too Many Voices, EVERT ..this is a .4-8PM show at
The Midway. Evert is a new band with Joe Packard, Matt Burns and Jim Alger...can't
wait to see them!! Evert
FB page. Gig
FB page.

March 3 (Saturday) The Von Traps,
The Brave Noise, RooFTops at O'Brien's Pub

March 3 (Saturday) Peter Perrett
(of The Only Ones) at The Brighton Music Hall FB
page for tix etc THIS SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED

March 24 (Saturday) See This World's
CD Release Party for Sign of the Times at the Launch Pad at Norwood
Space Center, also on the bill Neighborhood Shit and The
Pint Killers.It's a 6-11PM show-
FB page

March 24 (Saturday) Michael Kane
& The Morning Afters, Reverend Dan, Pull it Together at The 13th
Floor Music Lounge in Florence, MA